| 1985 Melbourne Cup | |
| Horse Race: | Melbourne Cup |
| Location: | Flemington Racecourse |
| Date: | 5 Nov 1985 |
| Distance: | 3200 Meters |
| Winning Horse: | What A Nuisance |
| Winning Time: | 3:23.0 |
| Final Odds: | 15/1 |
| Winning Jockey: | Pat Hyland |
| Winning Trainer: | John F. Meagher |
| Surface: | Turf |
| Previous: | 1984 |
| Next: | 1986 |
The 1985 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 5 November 1985. The race, run over 3200m (10,500feet), at Flemington Racecourse.
The 1985 Melbourne Cup was won by What A Nuisance a horse who had just recovered from a damaged suspensory ligament. This running of the race was notably for many reasons as it was the first horse race in Australia to have a prize pool of $AU1,000,000 and it was also the first time the Melbourne Cup was sponsored as it was sponsored by Foster's.[1] Legendary commentator Bruce McAvaney called his first Melbourne Cup for Network 10, he would go on to call three more.
This is a list of horses which ran in the 1985 Melbourne Cup.[2]
| Place | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | What A Nuisance | John F. Meagher | Pat Hyland | |
| 2nd | Koiro Corrie May | Dave O'Sullivan | Lance O'Sullivan | |
| 3rd | Tripsacum | J P Gaffney | Robert Hefferman | |
| 4th | Fil De Roi | I A MacDonald | Ron Quinton | |
| 5th | Butternut | Doug Baertschigar | M Riley | |
| 6th | Our Boyfriend | Sir Mark Todd | Mark Barnsley | |
| 7th | Imaprince | B Preston | Brent Thomson | |
| 8th | Tristarc | R S McDonald | W Trealor | |
| 9th | Black Knight | Peter Cook | ||
| 10th | Our Sophia | George Hanlon | Harry White | |
| 11th | Kiwi | Snow Lupton | Noel Harris | |
| 12th | Dusky Legend | S A Mackinnon | P Alderman | |
| 13th | Duanette's Girl | J A Gibbs | David Peake | |
| 14th | Mapperley Heights | Colin Hayes | Darren Gauci | |
| 15th | Silver Award | R W Guy | Mick Dittman | |
| 16th | Sir Zephyr | B J Smith | John Duggan | |
| 17th | Hayai | J Lee | John Letts | |
| 18th | Late Show | Brian Mayfield-Smith | ||
| 19th | Lacka Reason | M K Bull | Gary Willetts | |
| 20th | Under Oath | Colin Hayes | Michael Clarke | |
| 21st | Spritely Native | M G Lees | W Harris | |
| 22nd | Rising Prince | Deidre Stein | K Langby | |
| 23rd | Foxseal | Rick Hore-Lacy | P D Johnson |